The “enfant terrible” of the Cahors label?

By AD Perrin

"Enfant terrible": that is the image I am often assigned, actually somewhat hastily… No doubt because, in all my activities, I have always taken great care to preserve my full freedom of speech, even at the cost of displeasing. This sometimes earns me some low blows. One gets over them… But is that a reason for preferring the empty language of officialdom?

Thus, in the “Letters to the editor” column of the “Revue des Vins de France”, one of my colleagues and neighbors, Jean-Luc Baldès of Vire sur Lot, following a remark about his products, kindly puts forward the idea that “as a specialist in finance and precious stones, [I am not in] the habit of meeting with Cahors producers, on their own turf, to talk about the land, soil protection, yields, etc.”.

This makes me smile, for it is easy to grasp the innuendo beneath the heavy-handed wording. The author forgets that I presided over the Cahors label for nearly fifteen years; that I contributed to its renown by bringing journalists and celebrities from the world over to the Lot. No one in Cahors disputes this, by the way. It even occasionally happens that one is thankful to me. I even brought together the “young wine growers” at my home on two occasions!

In fact, let’s be precise: I am not the label’s “enfant terrible”. I am the label’s “Parisian”. No one cares that I have been here for thirty years, that is longer than the young wine growers who are working their land today. Come what may, I will remain “the Parisian” and “the man from the château”. Those two defects will follow me forever, whatever I say and do and consider to be a quality. And so I have learned to live with them.

“Continue to say what you think. And to do what you believe needs to be done” remains a motto to which I am greatly attached.

Comments

[Justin Saunders]

After integrating well with the local french community in the Lot over the past 8 years I will always be "L'Anglais" and my wife "L'Americaine" but our 11 and 9 year old daughters are and will always be "Lotoises"

Your wines are excellent and this is probably because you care with passion about the quality of what you produce!

L'Anglais Albasien